Township, PennDOT and developer outline Analone Drive intersection redesign, easements and frontage fence near Schuylkill Valley campus

Representatives for a private developer and Onalani Township told the Schuylkill Valley School District buildings-and-grounds committee on Jan. 27 that PennDOT has approved key elements of a redesign of the Analone Drive intersection adjacent to the district campus, but the project will require small parcels of right-of-way, several easements and coordination on tree impacts and construction sequencing.

The presentation outlined an expanded intersection geometry that adds left-turn lanes at multiple approaches, a right-turn lane into Ottoleny Drive, ADA-compliant ramps at each corner and designed swales for stormwater conveyance and treatment. Township and consultant speakers said PennDOT has already reviewed and given feedback that reduced the grading impact near the school frontage.

Why it matters: The intersection work is intended to improve safety and traffic flow for school traffic and new businesses planned on Analone Drive, but it requires property adjustments on all four corners and will affect trees along the school frontage. The school district will be asked to execute small rights-of-way and easement documents once PennDOT reviews are finalized.

John Wichner, a project engineer with Bowman Consulting, described the planning history and regulatory requirements. “When we design left turn lanes, PennDOT policy and really from a geometric and safety perspective, they require a mirrored left turn lane in the other direction,” Wichner said, noting his team’s traffic studies confirmed PennDOT warrants for the southbound left-turn lane and that PennDOT’s review has required ADA ramps and minor right-of-way dedications on each corner.

Developer Bud Wrightnauer, who said he represents Wrightnauer Incorporated, presented a concept for a decorative steel fence and a brick-accented monument at the school frontage that he says would replace a portion of the tree line lost to grading. “We had to get rid of some of the trees,” Wrightnauer said. “PennDOT did cooperate with us and will allow us to have less swale at the very front…they allowed us to keep that extended [left turn] like originally planned and just reduce the swale so we won't have root disruption on those.”

Project scope and impacts: Engineers said the project footprint will need small permanent right-of-way dedications, drainage easements to maintain the designed swales, a temporary construction easement, and a small signal easement around the mast-arm foundation for the traffic signal. Wichner showed an estimate that the total right-of-way area is now roughly 560 square feet (oscillating in early reviews between about 555 and 565) and said the team expects only minor adjustments as PennDOT’s final review cycles conclude.

Design details discussed at the meeting included a swale with a 3-foot flat bottom and 3:1 side slopes; project staff also discussed the practical depth during Q&A and said the constructed section discussed in the meeting would be roughly 2 feet deep as presented to the committee. Wichner said PennDOT had also accepted a grading change that eliminated a previously proposed cross pipe under a driveway.

Timing, approvals and maintenance: Consultants said they expect to submit the next package to PennDOT “in the next 10 to 14 days” and aim for construction in the 2025 construction season, ideally completed in one season and beginning as early as June depending on PennDOT approvals and asphalt plant availability. The township will be the permittee on the PennDOT Highway Occupancy Permit and will carry maintenance responsibility for the swale and signal mast-arm area, speakers said.

Coordination with the district: School staff raised questions about construction staging, contractor clearances for work on school property, impacts to athletic-field access and the need to coordinate around summer practices. Township representatives said contractor personnel who work on school property will need clearances and that the easement agreement language has been revised to address maintenance responsibilities. The presenters requested the board to expect draft easement documents (right-of-way, drainage easement, temporary construction easement and a small signal easement) at next month’s workshop meeting for formal review and solicitor negotiation.

What the board decided: Committee members did not vote on any easement or authorization at the Jan. 27 meeting. Presenters said they will return with draft documents after the next PennDOT review; the township solicitor confirmed ongoing communications between the two solicitors.

For the record: Presenters emphasized that the project as currently designed includes modernized school flashers to be relocated as part of the PennDOT project, and that permanent changes to the fence line will be finalized after engineers establish the permitted grading and swale locations.

Next steps: Project team members said they will refine the right-of-way and easement exhibits in response to the latest PennDOT comments, deliver those documents to the district and its solicitor for review, and aim to present them at the district’s next workshop meeting for formal action.